Methods and systems for temperature control for a substrate

Abstract

A method for controlling the temperature of a substrate support assembly is provided. A first direct current (DC) power is supplied to a heating element embedded in a region of the substrate support assembly, the substrate support assembly being included in a processing chamber. A voltage across the heating element is measured. Similarly, a current through the heating element is measured. A temperature of a region of the substrate support assembly is determined based on the voltage across the heating element and the current through the heating element. A temperature difference between the determined temperature of the region and a target temperature of the region is determined. A second DC power to be delivered to the heating element to achieve the target temperature is determined, at least in part, based on the temperature difference. The second DC power is supplied to the heating element to modify the temperature of the region to the target temperature.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The embodiments of this disclosure are generally related to the manufacture of electronic devices, and more specifically to systems for temperature control of substrates and methods for using such systems. [Previous Technology]

[0002] Defects may occur during substrate processing due to poor temperature control of the substrate and / or the environment surrounding it. For example, during an etching process, a surface temperature difference across the substrate may cause uneven material etching across the substrate surfaces. In another example, during a deposition process, a surface temperature difference across the substrate may cause uneven material deposition across the substrate surfaces. The accuracy of temperature measurement contributes to the ability to precisely control the substrate temperature. Current techniques rely on temperature sensors (e.g., thermocouples) embedded within a substrate support assembly that supports the substrate during processing to determine the substrate temperature. However, delays in the transmission of feedback information from the embedded temperature sensors and other defects hinder accurate, real-time measurement of the substrate temperature. Furthermore, a typical substrate support assembly includes fewer embedded temperature sensors than the number of zones in the substrate support assembly. For example, a substrate support assembly may include five or more zones and up to two embedded temperature sensors. As a result, relying on one embedded temperature sensor to measure the temperature of two or more zones of the substrate support assembly hinders accurate, real-time temperature measurement of each zone of the substrate support assembly. [Summary of the Invention]

[0003] Some of the embodiments described encompass a method comprising the steps of: supplying a first direct current (DC) power to a heating element embedded in a region of a substrate support assembly, the substrate support assembly being included in a processing chamber. The method further comprises the steps of: measuring a voltage across the heating element and a current through the heating element. The method further comprises the steps of: determining a temperature of the region of the substrate support assembly based on the voltage across the heating element and the current through the heating element. The method further comprises the steps of: determining a second DC power to be delivered to the heating element to achieve the target temperature. The method further comprises the steps of: supplying the second DC power to the heating element such that the temperature of the region is modified to the target temperature.

[0004] In some embodiments, an apparatus includes: a direct current (DC) power supply operatively coupled to a heating element embedded in a region of a substrate support assembly, the substrate support assembly being included in a processing chamber. The apparatus further includes: a controller operatively coupled to the heating element and the DC power supply. The controller is configured to cause the DC power supply to supply a first DC power to the heating element. The controller is further configured to: measure a voltage across the heating element and a current through the heating element. The controller is further configured to: determine a temperature of the region of the substrate support assembly based on the voltage across the heating element and the current through the heating element. The controller is further configured to: determine a target temperature of the region based on the determined temperature of the region. The controller is further configured to: determine a second DC power to be delivered to the heating element to achieve the target temperature. The controller is further configured to: cause the DC power supply to supply the second power to the heating element to modify the temperature of the region to the target temperature.

[0005] In some embodiments, an electronic device manufacturing system includes: a processing chamber including a substrate support assembly. The substrate support assembly includes one or more heating elements, each embedded in a region of the substrate support assembly. The electronic device manufacturing system further includes: a DC power supply configured to supply DC power to each heating element. The electronic device manufacturing system further includes: a controller operatively coupled to each heating element, the DC power supply, and the system controller. The controller is configured to: cause the DC power supply to supply a first DC power to the heating element embedded in a corresponding region of the substrate support assembly among the one or more heating elements. The controller is further configured to: measure a voltage across the heating element and a current through the heating element. The controller is further configured to: determine a temperature of the corresponding region of the substrate support assembly based on the voltage across the heating element and the current through the heating element. The controller is further configured to: determine a target temperature of the corresponding region based on the determined temperature of the corresponding region. The controller is further configured to: determine a second DC power to be delivered to the heating element to achieve the target temperature. The controller is further configured to supply the second power to the heating element so as to modify the temperature of the corresponding zone to the target temperature.

Implementation Method

[0006] The embodiments described herein provide a temperature controller for controlling the temperature of a substrate during processing in a processing chamber. The temperature controller can be configured to provide power to one or more heating elements embedded within a substrate support assembly that supports the substrate during processing. One or more heating elements can be embedded within regions of the substrate support assembly. Each region can correspond to a portion of the substrate. The temperature controller can increase, decrease, or maintain the amount of power supplied to the one or more heating elements to heat the one or more regions to a target temperature.

[0007] In some embodiments, the temperature controller may include a power rectifier. The temperature controller may be connected to one or more power sources. In some embodiments, the power source may be an alternating current (AC) power source. In such embodiments, the power rectifier of the temperature controller may convert AC power received from the AC power source into direct current (DC) power and may deliver DC power to one or more heating elements. In other or similar embodiments, the power source may be a DC power source. The temperature controller 190 may facilitate the delivery of DC power from the DC power source to the one or more heating elements.

[0008] When transmitting power to the heating element, the power control module can measure the voltage across the heating element and / or the current through the heating element. The measured voltage and current values ​​can be used to determine the resistance value of the heating element. Based on the resistance value of the heating element, the temperature controller can determine the temperature of the heating element. The power control module can further determine the temperature of a region of the substrate support assembly including the heating element based on the determined temperature of the heating element. The determined temperature of the region can correspond to the temperature of a portion of the substrate.

[0009] The system controller can control one or more operating conditions of the process at the processing chamber based on the process recipe. Modification of the operating conditions can cause a temperature change in a portion of the substrate. In some embodiments, the system controller can provide an indication to a temperature controller of the operating conditions to be modified by the system controller from a first setting to a second setting. Using a temperature model, the temperature controller can determine whether the modification of the operating conditions will cause a temperature change in a portion of the substrate. In response to the determination that modifying to the second setting will cause a temperature change in a portion of the substrate, the temperature controller can modify the amount of power supplied to one or more heating elements of the substrate support assembly to maintain the temperature of the portion of the substrate at a target temperature. In some embodiments, the temperature controller can provide feedback control of the one or more heating elements. For example, the temperature controller can modify the amount of power supplied to the one or more heating elements before modifying the operating conditions. In other or similar embodiments, the temperature controller can provide feedforward control of the one or more heating elements. For example, the temperature controller can modify the amount of power supplied in parallel with the modification of the operating conditions.

[0010] By providing a temperature controller capable of obtaining accurate, real-time temperature measurements of any heating element embedded in a substrate support assembly, embodiments of this disclosure overcome the aforementioned deficiencies of the prior art. Temperature measurements can be obtained much faster and with less latency compared to temperature measurements using conventional temperature sensors. For example, conventional temperature sensors are isolated from the heating element to be measured. It takes time for heat to be transferred from the heating element to a temperature sensor in such a system. In contrast, the embodiments described herein provide a system in which the temperature of the heating element is detected using the properties of the heating element itself. This provides near-instantaneous feedback on the temperature of the heating element.

[0011] By providing a system that can obtain temperature measurements more quickly and with lower latency, defective heating elements and / or areas of the substrate support assembly can be identified and corrected more rapidly. For example, a region of the substrate support assembly may heat a portion of the substrate below a target temperature, which may hinder uniform etching across the substrate surface. The temperature controller can more quickly determine that a region of the substrate support assembly is heating the substrate below a target temperature and can more quickly increase the temperature of the substrate to the target temperature using one or more heating elements within the region. By more quickly identifying heating elements and / or areas that need to be modified to correct defects, the target temperature of the process recipe can be maintained more accurately throughout the process, thus reducing the overall number of substrate defects. Furthermore, in some embodiments, a separate temperature sensor can be omitted, thereby reducing the complexity and / or cost of heaters and / or electrostatic chucks. Additionally, the temperature module described herein can also be used to provide diagnostics for heating elements. For example, a temperature module can be used alone or in conjunction with an additional temperature sensor to identify the resistance drift of a heating element and / or to identify a faulty heating element.

[0012] Furthermore, by transmitting DC power instead of AC power to the heating element, more accurate measurements of the voltage and current associated with the heating element can be obtained compared to measurements obtainable using AC power. By obtaining more accurate measurements of voltage and current, more accurate temperature measurements of the heating element and / or the area including the heating element can be obtained. As discussed above, by obtaining more accurate temperature measurements of the heating element and / or the area including the heating element, the heating element and / or the area can be modified more quickly to heat the area to the target temperature, thereby reducing the number of substrate defects. By reducing the number of substrate defects, the overall error rate within the system is reduced, and the overall system latency is improved.

[0013] FIG1 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a processing chamber 100 according to the present disclosure. The processing chamber 100 may be, for example, a plasma processing chamber, an etching processing chamber, an annealing chamber, a physical vapor deposition chamber, a chemical vapor deposition chamber, an ion implantation chamber, or another type of processing chamber. The processing chamber 100 includes a groundable chamber body 102. The chamber body 102 includes a wall 104 surrounding an internal volume 124, a bottom 106, and a cover 108. A substrate support assembly 126 is disposed in the internal volume 124 and supports a substrate 134 during processing.

[0014] The wall 104 of the processing chamber 100 may include an opening (not shown) through which a robotic arm can transfer the substrate 134 into and out of the internal volume 124. A pumping port 110 is formed in one of the walls 104 or the bottom 106 of the chamber body 102 and is fluidly connected to a pumping system (not shown). The pumping system can maintain a vacuum environment within the internal volume 124 of the processing chamber 100 and can remove processing byproducts from the processing chamber.

[0015] The gas panel 112 can supply process gases and / or other gases to the internal volume 124 of the processing chamber 100 through one or more inlets 114, which are formed through at least one of the cover 108 or wall 104 of the chamber body 102. The process gases supplied by the gas panel 112 can be energized within the internal volume 124 to form plasma 122 for processing a substrate 134 disposed on a substrate support assembly 126. The process gases can be energized by RF power inductively coupled to the process gases from a plasma applicator 120 positioned outside the chamber body 102. Alternatively or additionally, plasma can be formed within the internal volume 124 of the processing chamber 100. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the plasma applicator 120 is coupled to a pair of coaxial coils of an RF power supply 116 via a matching circuit 118.

[0016] The substrate support assembly 126 generally includes at least a substrate support 132. The substrate support 132 may be a vacuum chuck, an electrostatic chuck, a base, or other workpiece support surface. In the embodiment of FIG1, the substrate support 132 is an electrostatic chuck and will be described below as electrostatic chuck 132. The substrate support assembly 126 may also include a cooling base 130. The cooling base 130 may alternatively be decoupled from the substrate support assembly 126. The substrate support assembly 126 may be removably coupled to a support bracket 125. The support bracket 125, which may include a bracket base 128 and a facility plate 180, may be mounted to the chamber body 102. The substrate support assembly 126 may be periodically removed from the support bracket 125 to allow refurbishment of one or more elements of the substrate support assembly 126.

[0017] The facility plate 180 is configured to accommodate one or more drive mechanisms configured to raise and lower multiple lifting pins. Furthermore, the facility plate 180 is configured to accommodate fluid connections from the electrostatic chuck 132 and the cooling base 130. The facility plate 180 is also configured to accommodate electrical connections from the electrostatic chuck 132 and the heater assembly 170. Numerous connectors may extend externally or internally to the substrate support assembly 126, and the facility plate 180 may provide interfaces for connections to corresponding ends.

[0018] The electrostatic chuck 132 has a mounting surface 131 and a workpiece surface 133 opposite to the mounting surface 131. The electrostatic chuck 132 generally includes clamping electrodes 136 embedded in a dielectric body 150. The clamping electrodes 136 can be configured as unipolar or bipolar electrodes or other suitable arrangements. The clamping electrodes 136 can be coupled to a clamping power supply 138 via a radio frequency (RF) filter 182, which provides RF or DC power to electrostatically hold the substrate 134 to the upper surface of the dielectric body 150. The RF filter 182 prevents the RF power used to form plasma 122 within the processing chamber 100 from damaging electrical equipment or creating electrical hazards outside the chamber. The dielectric body 150 can be made of a ceramic material (e.g., AlN or Al2O3). Alternatively, the dielectric body 150 can be made of a polymer (e.g., polyimide, polyetheretherketone, polyaryletherketone, etc.). In some cases, the dielectric substrate is coated with a plasma-resistant ceramic coating (such as yttrium oxide, Y3Al5O12 (YAG), etc.).

[0019] The workpiece surface 133 of the electrostatic chuck 132 may include a gas passage (not shown) to provide back-side heat-conducting gas to the gap space defined between the substrate 134 and the workpiece surface 133 of the electrostatic chuck 132. The electrostatic chuck 132 may also include a lifting pin hole for receiving a lifting pin (both not shown) to raise the substrate 134 above the workpiece surface 133 of the electrostatic chuck 132 to facilitate transfer by a robotic arm into and out of the processing chamber 100.

[0020] The temperature-controlled cooling base 130 is coupled to a heat transfer fluid source 144. The heat transfer fluid source 144 provides a heat transfer fluid (e.g., liquid, gas, or a combination thereof) that circulates through one or more conduits 160 disposed in the cooling base 130. Fluids flowing through adjacent conduits 160 can be isolated to allow localized control of heat transfer between different areas of the electrostatic chuck 132 and the cooling base 130, which helps control the lateral temperature distribution of the substrate 134.

[0021] A fluid distributor (not shown) can be fluidly coupled between the outlet of the heat transfer fluid source 144 and the temperature-controlled cooling base 130. The fluid distributor operates to control the amount of heat transfer fluid supplied to the conduit 160. The fluid distributor can be located outside the processing chamber 100, inside the substrate support assembly 126, inside the support base 128, or at another suitable location.

[0022] The heater assembly 170 may include one or more primary resistance heating elements 154 and / or multiple auxiliary heating elements 140 embedded in the body 152 or the electrostatic chuck 132 of the heater assembly 170. In the illustrated example, the primary resistance heating element 154 is disposed above the auxiliary heating element 140. However, it should be understood that the auxiliary heating element 140 may additionally or alternatively be positioned on the same plane as and / or above the primary resistance heating element 154. In one embodiment, the body 152 is flexible polyimide or other flexible polymer. In another embodiment, the body is a ceramic such as AlN or Al2O3. In some embodiments, the body 152 has a disc shape.

[0023] A primary resistive heating element 154 may be provided to raise the temperature of the substrate support assembly 126 and the supported substrate 134 to the temperature specified in the process formulation. An auxiliary heating element 140 may provide localized adjustment of the temperature distribution of the substrate support assembly 126 generated by the primary resistive heating element 154. Thus, the primary resistive heating element 154 operates on a global macroscopic scale, while the auxiliary heating element operates on a local microscopic scale.

[0024] The heater assembly 170 may include a plurality of heating zones (referred to herein as zones). Each zone may be heated by at least one primary resistive heating element 154 and / or at least one auxiliary heating element 140 embedded in the respective zone. In some embodiments, each zone may include one primary resistive heating element 154 and one or more auxiliary heating elements 140. In other or similar embodiments, each zone may include a plurality of primary resistive heating elements 154 and a plurality of auxiliary heating elements 140. In some embodiments, the plurality of zones may be associated with the same primary resistive heating element 154. The heater assembly 170 may include from two heating zones to hundreds of heating zones (e.g., 150 or 200 heating zones in some embodiments). Each zone of the heater 170 may correspond to a portion of the substrate 134. For example, a first zone may heat a first portion of the substrate 134 to a first temperature, and a second zone may heat a second portion of the substrate 134 to a second temperature.

[0025] In one embodiment of a dual-zone configuration of the primary resistive heating element 154, the primary resistive heating element 154 can be used to heat the substrate 134 to a suitable processing temperature with a variation of approximately + / - 10 degrees Celsius from one zone to another. In another embodiment of a four-zone configuration of the primary resistive heating element 154, the primary resistive heating element 154 can be used to heat the substrate 134 to a suitable processing temperature with a variation of approximately + / - 1 degree Celsius within a specific zone. Depending on the process conditions and parameters, each zone can vary from approximately 0 degrees Celsius to approximately 20 degrees Celsius relative to adjacent zones. In some cases, a half-degree variation in the surface temperature of the substrate 134 can result in differences of up to nanometers when forming structures in the substrate. The auxiliary heating element 140 can be used to improve the temperature distribution on the surface of the substrate generated by the primary resistive heating element 154 by reducing the variation in temperature distribution to approximately + / - 0.3 degrees Celsius. The desired results can be obtained by using an auxiliary heating element 140 across the area of ​​the substrate 134 to make the temperature distribution uniform or precisely varied in a predetermined manner.

[0026] In one embodiment, the heater assembly 170 is included in the electrostatic chuck 132. In other or similar embodiments, a primary resistance heating element 154 and / or an auxiliary heating element 140 are formed in the electrostatic chuck 132. In such embodiments, the substrate support assembly 126 may be formed without the heater assembly 170, wherein the electrostatic chuck 132 is disposed directly on the cooling base 130.

[0027] The primary resistive heating element 154 can be coupled to the temperature controller 190 via an RF filter 184. In some embodiments, the auxiliary heating element 140 can be coupled to the temperature controller 190 via an RF filter 186. The temperature controller 190 may include a power rectifier 192 and a power control module 194. The temperature controller 190 can be operatively coupled to a primary power supply 156 and an auxiliary power supply 142. In one embodiment, the primary power supply 156 may provide 900 watts or more of power to the primary resistive heating element 154. In some embodiments, the auxiliary power supply 142 may provide 10 watts or less of power to the auxiliary heating element 140. In other or similar embodiments, the auxiliary power supply 142 may also provide 900 watts or more of power to the auxiliary heating element 140. In some embodiments, the power supplied by the auxiliary power supply 142 is on the order of magnitude less than the power supplied by the primary power supply 156 to the primary resistive heating element 154. Although the main power supply 156 and auxiliary power supply 142 are depicted as separate elements with respect to Figure 1, in some embodiments, the main power supply 156 and auxiliary power supply 142 are included in a single element. In other or similar embodiments, the main power supply 156 and auxiliary power supply 142 are included in the temperature controller 190.

[0028] In some embodiments, auxiliary heater power supply 142 and / or main heater power supply 156 respectively provide alternating current (AC) power to auxiliary heating element 140 and / or main resistive heating element 154 (collectively referred to herein as heating elements 154, 140). In such embodiments, power rectifier 192 may be configured to convert the AC power provided by auxiliary power supply 142 and / or main power supply 156 into DC power. In some embodiments, power rectifier 192 is a single-phase rectifier, a three-phase rectifier, or another type of rectifier. In other or similar embodiments, auxiliary power supply 142 and / or main power supply 156 provide DC power to heating elements 154, 140. In such embodiments, power rectifier 192 may be configured to facilitate the transfer of DC power to heating elements 154, 140.

[0029] The power control module 194 can be configured to increase or decrease the amount of power supplied to the heating elements 154, 140. The power control module 194 can be, for example, a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. In some embodiments, the power control module 194 can measure the voltage across one or more heating elements 154, 140. The power control module 194 can further measure the current through one or more heating elements 154, 140. In such embodiments, the power control module 194 can determine the temperature of the area including the heating elements 154, 140 based on the measured voltage and current. In detail, the power control module 194 or system controller 148 can calculate the resistance of the heating elements 154, 140 based on the following equation: where R is the resistance of the heating element, V is the voltage across the heating element, and I is the current through the heating element. Each heating element can be calibrated to correlate the resistance value with the temperature value. Accordingly, once the resistance of the heating element is calculated, the temperature of that heating element associated with the calculated resistance can be determined (e.g., by using a lookup table or function generated during calibration). The system controller 148 can be connected to the temperature controller 190 via a wired or wireless connection. For example, the system controller 148 can be connected to the temperature controller 190 via an EtherCAT connection used for controlling automation.

[0030] In response to the temperature of the target zone, the power controller 194 can increase or decrease the amount of power delivered from the power source (e.g., auxiliary power source 142, main power source 156) to the heating element to modify the temperature of the zone to the target temperature. Further details regarding voltage and current measurements and the control of the power delivered to the heating element are provided in more detail with reference to Figure 3.

[0031] System controller 148 is coupled to processing chamber 100 to control the operation of processing chamber 100 and the processing of substrate 134. System controller 148 includes a general-purpose data processing system that can be used in an industrial environment to control various subprocessors and subcontrollers. Generally, system controller 148 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 172 that communicates with common components such as memory 174 and input / output (I / O) circuitry 176. In some embodiments, system controller 148 controls various conditions within processing chamber 100 according to a process recipe. The process recipe may include a series of software commands to be executed by the CPU during the processing of substrate 134. For example, software commands executed by the CPU of system controller 148 may cause the processing chamber to introduce an etchant gas mixture (i.e., processing gas) into internal volume 124, form plasma 122 from the processing gas by applying RF power from plasma applicator 120, maintain a target temperature, and etch material layers on substrate 134.

[0032] The temperature of one or more portions of the surface of the substrate 134 in the processing chamber 100 can be affected by various conditions associated with the process formulation. For example, the temperature of the substrate 134 can be affected by factors such as: introducing an etchant gas mixture into the internal volume 124, venting process gases by a pump or slit valve, forming plasma 122 from process gases by applying RF power, the pressure within the internal volume 124 of the processing chamber 100, etching material layers on the substrate 134, and other factors. Cooling the substrate 130, the one or more primary resistive heating elements 154, and the auxiliary heating elements 140 all contribute to controlling the surface temperature of the substrate 134.

[0033] The power control module 194 can adjust the amount of power supplied to the heating elements 154, 140 to maintain the temperature of the substrate 134 at a target temperature during processing. Before the system control module 148 executes the software commands for the process recipe, the power controller 194 can modify the amount of power supplied to the heating elements 154, 140 to counteract any anticipated changes in the temperature of the substrate 134 that may occur in response to the execution of the software commands. For example, activating the RF electrodes in the electrostatic chuck 132 can increase the temperature in one or more zones.

[0034] System controller 148 may notify power control module 194 of software commands to be executed by system controller 148 based on process recipe. Power control module 194 may determine the impact of the execution of the software commands on the temperature distribution of substrate 134. The temperature of substrate 134 may correspond to the temperature of one or more portions of substrate 134 or the temperature difference between two or more portions of substrate 134. In some embodiments, system controller 148 may also determine an indication of the impact on the temperature and / or temperature distribution of substrate 134 in response to the execution of the software commands and / or provide such indication to power control module 194. In other or similar embodiments, power control module 194 may identify the impact on the temperature and / or temperature distribution of substrate 134. For example, power control module 194 may use a lookup table generated during calibration to look up the expected temperature increase or decrease associated with the execution of the command. In another example, the power module may provide the current temperature of a region of substrate and / or substrate support assembly and the impact of operating conditions associated with the software commands into a temperature model. Based on this effect, the power control module 194 or the system controller 148 can determine whether to increase, decrease, or maintain the amount of power supplied to one or more of the heating elements 154, 140 to maintain the target temperature and / or temperature distribution of the substrate 134 after the execution of the software command. In response to receiving an instruction to increase or decrease the amount of power supplied to one or more of the heating elements 154, 140, or in response to a decision to increase or decrease the amount of power supplied to one or more of the heating elements 154, 140, the power control module 194 can increase or decrease the amount of power supplied to the respective heating element 154, 140. In some embodiments, the power control module 194 can increase or decrease the amount of power supplied to the respective heating element 154, 140 before the system controller 148 executes the software command. In other or similar embodiments, the power control module 194 can increase or decrease the amount of power supplied to the respective heating element 154, 140 while the system controller 148 executes the software command. By increasing or decreasing the amount of power supplied to the corresponding heating elements 154, 140 before or during the execution of software commands by the system controller 148, the temperature and / or temperature distribution of the substrate 134 can be maintained at a target temperature when the conditions of the process chamber are modified according to the process recipe. Accordingly, in the embodiment, the power of the heating elements 154, 140 can be adjusted proactively, rather than waiting for a temperature change and adjusting in response to that change. Consequently, compared to conventional temperature control techniques, the embodiment increases temperature consistency throughout the process.

[0035] In some embodiments, the body 152 and / or the electrostatic chuck 132 may additionally include one or more temperature sensors (not shown). Each temperature sensor can be used to measure the temperature at a region of the heater assembly 170 and / or the temperature of a region of the electrostatic chuck 132 associated with a region of the heater assembly 170. In embodiments, a region may comprise multiple regions (e.g., a single temperature sensor is used for multiple regions). In another embodiment, each region has one temperature sensor. The temperature sensors can provide feedback information to the temperature controller 190 and / or the system controller 148. In some embodiments, according to the previously described embodiments, the feedback information provided from the temperature sensors can be used to verify the temperature of the heating elements 154, 140 and / or the surface of the substrate. In other or similar embodiments, as described in more detail herein, the feedback information provided from the temperature sensors can be used to calibrate or recalibrate the relationship between the resistance of the heating elements 154, 140 and the temperature of the heater. Furthermore, temperature sensors can also be used to identify faulty heating elements.

[0036] FIG2 is a partial cross-sectional schematic side view of a portion of the substrate support assembly 126 as detailed in this disclosure. Included in FIG2 are portions of the electrostatic chuck 132, cooling base 130, heater assembly 170, and facility plate 180.

[0037] The body 152 of the heater assembly 170 may be made of a polymer such as polyimide or of ceramic (e.g., alumina or aluminum nitride). Accordingly, the body 152 may be a flexible body in one embodiment and a rigid body in another. The body 152 may be generally cylindrical, but may also be formed in other geometries. The body 152 has an upper surface 270 and a lower surface 272. The upper surface 270 faces the electrostatic chuck 132, while the lower surface 272 faces the cooling base 130.

[0038] Heating elements 154, 140 may be formed or disposed on or in the body 152 of the heater assembly 170. Alternatively, heating elements 154, 140 may be formed or disposed on or in the electrostatic chuck 132. Heating elements 154, 140 may be formed by plating, inkjet printing, screen printing, physical vapor deposition, embossing, screen printing, patterned polyimide flexible circuitry, chemical and / or metal lamination, or by other suitable means. Guide holes may be formed in the heater assembly 170 or the electrostatic chuck 132 to provide connections from the heating elements 154, 140 to the outer surface of the heater assembly 170 or the electrostatic chuck 132. Alternatively or additionally, a metal layer (not shown) may be formed in the heater assembly 170 or the electrostatic chuck 132. Guide holes may be formed in the heater assembly 170 or the electrostatic chuck 132 to provide connections from the heating elements 154, 140 to the metal layer. Additional guide holes can be formed to connect the metal layer to the outer surface of the heater assembly 170 or the electrostatic chuck 132.

[0039] The heater assembly 170 may include a plurality of auxiliary heating elements 140, which are illustratively shown as auxiliary heating elements 140A, 140B, 140C, 140D, etc. Each auxiliary heating element 140 is generally a volume enclosed within the heater assembly 170, in which one or more heating elements 154, 140 conduct heat between the heater assembly 170 and the electrostatic chuck 132. Each auxiliary heating element 140 may be arranged laterally across the heater assembly 170 and define a unit 200 within the heater assembly 170 to locally provide additional heat to one or more areas of the heater assembly 170 aligned with that unit 200. The number of auxiliary heating elements 140 formed in the heater assembly 170 may vary, and it is contemplated that the number of auxiliary heating elements 140 (and units 200) may be at least an order of magnitude greater than the number of primary heating elements 154. In one embodiment where the heater assembly 170 has four main heating elements 154 (which define four zones of the heater assembly 170), more than 40 auxiliary heating elements 140 may be present. However, it is contemplated that in a given embodiment of the substrate support assembly 126 configured for use with a 300 mm substrate, approximately 200, approximately 400, or even more auxiliary heating elements 140 may be present.

[0040] Similar to heating elements 154, 140, one or more temperature sensors 141 may be formed or disposed on or in the body 152 or electrostatic chuck 132 of the heater assembly 170. In one embodiment, the temperature sensor 141 is a resistance temperature detector (RTD). Alternatively, the temperature sensor 141 may be a thermocouple. The temperature sensor 141 may be formed by plating, inkjet printing, screen printing, physical vapor deposition, embossing, screen printing, patterned polyimide flexible circuitry, or by other suitable means. Each temperature sensor 141 may measure the temperature of one or more regions of the heater assembly 170 to determine the operability of one or more heating elements 154, 140 in that region. In some embodiments, a single temperature sensor 141 may be used to determine the operability of both the auxiliary heating element 140 and the primary resistance heating element 154.

[0041] Each heating element 154, 140 can be independently coupled to a temperature controller 190. In some embodiments, each temperature sensor 141 can be independently coupled to a temperature controller, such as the temperature controller 190 (not shown) of FIG. 1. The temperature controller 190 can regulate the temperature of each heating element 154, 140 of the heater assembly 170. Alternatively, the temperature controller 190 can regulate the temperature of a group of heating elements 154, 140 in the heater assembly 170. For example, the temperature controller 190 can regulate the temperature of each heating element 154, 140 in one zone of the heater assembly 170 relative to the temperature of each heating element 154, 140 in another zone. The temperature controller 190 can control the amount of power delivered to the heating elements 154, 140 to control the temperature zone. For example, the temperature controller 190 can provide 10 watts of power to one or more resistance heating elements 154, 9 watts of power to other main resistance heating elements 154, and 1 watt of power to one or more auxiliary heating elements 140 to control the temperature of the area including each heating element 154, 140 at the target temperature.

[0042] FIG3 is a partial cross-sectional schematic side view of a substrate support assembly 126 connected to a temperature controller 190 in accordance with the present disclosure. As described above, the temperature controller 190 may include at least one of a power rectifier 192 and a power control module 194.

[0043] The temperature controller 190 may be operatively connected to the power supply 310. In some embodiments, as described with respect to FIG1, the power supply 310 may include a primary power supply 156 and an auxiliary power supply 142. In other or similar embodiments, the primary power supply 156 and the auxiliary power supply 142 may be separate components and may each be individually connected to the temperature controller 190, as illustrated in FIG1. ​​In some embodiments, the power rectifier 192 may be included as a component of the power supply 310 rather than a component of the temperature controller 190. In other or similar embodiments, the power supply 310 may be included as a component of the temperature controller 190.

[0044] As described with respect to FIG. 1, the main power supply 156 and the auxiliary power supply 142 can be configured to provide AC power to the main resistive heating element 154 and the auxiliary heating element 140 (collectively referred to as heating elements 154, 140), respectively. In such embodiments, the power rectifier 192 can be configured to convert AC power to DC power. In other or similar embodiments, according to the previously described embodiments, the main power supply 156 and the auxiliary power supply 142 can be configured to provide DC power to the heating elements 154, 140.

[0045] The power control module 194 can be configured to increase or decrease the amount of power supplied to one or more heating elements 154, 140. The temperature controller 190 can be connected to one or more heating elements 154, 140 via one or more connectors 320. For example, as illustrated with respect to FIG3, the temperature controller 190 can be connected to a first primary resistive heating element 154a via connector 320a and to a second primary resistive heating element 154b via connector 320b. In another example, connector 320a can be connected to the first primary resistive heating element 154a, and connector 320b can be connected (not shown) to a first auxiliary heater 140a. The connectors 320 can include multiple connectors adapted for communication between the heating elements 154, 140 and the temperature controller 190. The connectors 320 can each be cables, individual wires, flat flexible cables such as strips, mating connectors, or other suitable technologies for transmitting signals between the primary resistive heating elements 154, 140 and the temperature controller 190.

[0046] Although Figure 3 illustrates temperature controller 190 connected to the first main resistive heating element 154a and the second main resistive heating element 154b, temperature controller 190 can also be connected to any number of heating elements 154, 140 via any number of connectors 320. For example, temperature controller 190 can be connected to a single heating element 154, 140 via one or more connectors 320. In such an example, each heating element 154, 140 embedded within the body 152 of heater assembly 170 can be connected to a separate temperature controller 190. In another example, temperature controller 190 can be connected to each heating element 154, 140 embedded within a region of the body 152 of heater assembly 170 (i.e., temperature controller 190 controls the power delivered to each heating element 154, 140 in that region). In such an example, each heating element 154, 140 embedded within a region can be connected to a single connector 320 or multiple connectors 320.

[0047] Connector 320 may include multiple power leads for coupling to each heating element 154, 140 of connector 320. For example, connector 320a may include two or more of a separate positive or negative power lead for the main resistive heating element 154a. In some embodiments, each power lead has a switch managed by power control module 194. Each switch may be located in temperature controller 190, substrate support assembly 126, or another suitable location. The switch may be a field-effect transistor or other suitable electronic switch. The switch can provide a simple cycle between an on (active) state and an off (inactive) state for the heating elements 154, 140. Connector 320 may provide signals generated by power control module 194 to control the state of the switch.

[0048] The power control module 194 can simultaneously control, relative to another heating element, at least one or more of the duty cycle, voltage, current, or duration of the power applied to one or more heating elements 154, 140. For example, the power control module 194 can provide a signal along connector 320a to instruct a switch to allow 90% of the power to be delivered through the switch to the main resistive heating element 154a. According to the previously described embodiment, the power signal controller can increase or decrease the duty cycle, voltage, current, or duration of the power applied to one or more heating elements 154, 140 in response to a determined temperature of the area including the heating elements 154, 140 and / or an instruction of a software command to be executed by the system controller 148.

[0049] As previously described, the temperature controller 190 can measure the voltage across the heating elements 154, 140 and the current through the heating elements 154, 140. The measured voltage and current can be used to determine the resistance and the temperature of the area including the heating elements. In some embodiments, the temperature controller 190 includes one or more sensors (not shown). Each sensor can provide data associated with the heating elements 154, 140. Each sensor can include electronics that perform electrical measurements on the electrically fed conductors connected to the heating elements 154, 140 via connector 320. The electronics can sense properties of the electrically fed conductors (e.g., magnetic fluctuations, current, voltage, etc.) and convert these properties into sensor data. The electronics can measure sensor data including values ​​of one or more of the following: current, AC amplitude, phase, waveform (e.g., AC waveform, pulse waveform), DC, non-sinusoidal AC waveform, voltage, etc. In alternative embodiments, the sensors are located external to the temperature controller 190 and connected to connectors 320a, 320b.

[0050] In some embodiments, the electronic device may include clamps that clamp (e.g., via jaws) around the electrically fed conductor. The electronic device may use the clamps to perform electrical measurements on the electrically fed conductor without physical contact with the conductor. In some embodiments, the electronic device may be one or more of a current clamp, a current probe, a CT clamp, a blade clamp, a Hall effect clamp, a Rogowski coil current sensor, etc. In some embodiments, the electronic device includes a first current clamp for clamping around a first service trunk (e.g., its input power) and a second current clamp for clamping around a second service trunk (e.g., its output power).

[0051] According to the previously described embodiments, the temperature controller 190 can obtain the voltage and / or current value of each of the heating elements 154, 140 by measuring the voltage and current of the DC power delivered to the heating elements 154, 140. In some embodiments, the temperature controller 190 can obtain the voltage and / or current values ​​of the heating elements 154, 140 without measuring the voltage and current. For example, the temperature controller 190 can receive the voltage and / or current values ​​of the heating elements 154, 140 from another element of the processing system (e.g., system controller 148). In such embodiments, according to the embodiments described herein, the temperature controller 190 can determine the resistance value of the heating elements 154, 140 and the temperature of the area including the heating elements 154, 140.

[0052] The power controller 194 may include a temperature determining element 312 and a power determining element 314. The temperature determining element 312 may be configured to determine the temperature of a region including one of the more heating elements 154, 140 based on voltage and current measurements associated with each heating element 154, 140. As previously discussed, the temperature determining element 312 may receive one or more voltage and / or current measurements associated with the heating elements 154, 140. Based on the received voltage and / or current measurements, the temperature determining element 312 may determine the resistance value associated with the heating elements 154, 140. The temperature determining element 312 may determine the temperature of the region including the heating elements 154, 140 based on a known relationship between the resistance value and the temperature of the region.

[0053] A known relationship between the resistance values ​​of the heating elements 154, 140 and the temperature of the region of the substrate support assembly 126 can be determined before or during operation of the processing chamber including the substrate support assembly 126. In some embodiments, the known relationship can be determined by a power control module 194. In other or similar embodiments, the known relationship can be determined by another element within the temperature controller 190 or by an element within the system controller 148. For purposes of illustration with respect to FIG3, the known relationship will be described as being determined by the temperature determining element 312.

[0054] A calibration procedure can be performed to determine the relationship between the temperature of the zone and the resistance of the heating elements 154, 140 embedded within the zone. The calibration procedure can be performed before or after the start-up of the processing chamber. During the calibration procedure, the temperature determining element 312 adjusts the amount of power supplied to the heating elements 154, 140 to generate a series of varying voltage and current measurements for each heating element 154, 140. Each voltage and current measurement (i.e., the values ​​of power supplied to the heating elements 154, 140 and the voltage and current measurements received from the sensor 330) can be generated according to the previously described embodiments. The temperature determining element 312 can determine each resistance value of the heating elements 154, 140 based on each voltage and current measurement.

[0055] Upon generating each voltage and current measurement, the temperature determining element 312 may further generate a temperature measurement of the region including the one or more heating elements 154, 140. In some embodiments, a calibration object (e.g., a calibration wafer) may be placed on the surface of the substrate support assembly 126 prior to initiating the calibration procedure. The calibration wafer may include one or more temperature sensors, each temperature sensor displacing a different portion of the calibration wafer. In some embodiments, each temperature sensor of the calibration wafer may have an accuracy of approximately 99% or up to approximately 99.999%. In an embodiment, each temperature sensor is associated with one or more portions of the substrate 134. In other or similar embodiments, each temperature sensor corresponds to a region of the substrate support assembly 136.

[0056] When voltage and current measurements are generated for the heating elements 154 and 140 embedded in the region, temperature measurements are generated from a temperature sensor on the calibration wafer corresponding to the region. In response to determining the resistance value of the heating elements 154 and 140, the temperature determining element 312 can correlate the determined resistance value with the measured temperature value of the region.

[0057] The temperature determining element 312 can define the relationship between multiple determined resistance values ​​and measured temperature values ​​generated during the calibration procedure. In some embodiments, the relationship between the multiple determined resistance values ​​and measured temperature values ​​can be stored in a data structure (e.g., a lookup table). In other or similar embodiments, the relationship between the multiple determined resistance values ​​and temperature measurements can be defined as a function. In one embodiment, each heating element is associated with a unique set of resistance-to-temperature data. In other embodiments, multiple heating elements are associated with a shared set of resistance-to-temperature data. For example, each heating element in the region can be associated with the same temperature data set.

[0058] During operation of the processing chamber, the temperature determining element 312 can determine the temperature of the region based on the determined resistance values ​​of the heating elements 154, 140 embedded within the region and a known relationship between the resistance values ​​and the temperature of the region. For example, the temperature determining element 312 can identify previously measured temperatures of the regions including the heating elements 154, 140 in a data structure including known relationships, which correspond to the determined resistance values ​​of the heating elements 154, 140. In another example, the temperature determining element 312 can provide the determined resistance value as an input value to a function defined by the known relationship and obtain the temperature of the region as an output value. The determined temperature of the region can correspond to the temperature achieved at the corresponding portion of the substrate 134.

[0059] During operation of the processing chamber, one or more heating elements 154, 140 may deteriorate, causing a change in the relationship between the temperature of the region including the heating elements 154, 140 and the determined resistance of the heating elements 154, 140 embedded in the region. As previously described, one or more temperature sensors (not shown) may be embedded within the body 152 of the heater assembly 170. In some embodiments, the one or more temperature sensors may be used to generate temperature measurements of the region of the substrate support assembly 126. The determined temperature of the region (which is determined based on the calculated resistance of the one or more heating elements 154, 140) may be compared with the measured temperature of the region generated by the one or more temperature sensors. The temperature controller 190 may determine the difference between the measured temperature and the determined temperature based on the comparison. The temperature controller 190 may determine whether the difference deviates from the expected difference. In response to a decision that the difference between the determined temperature and the measured temperature exceeds a threshold difference, temperature controller 190 and / or system controller 148 may modify the relationship between the temperature of the zone and the resistance of heating elements 154, 140 (e.g., providing an indication that the determined resistance value of heating elements 154, 140 corresponds to a first temperature measurement rather than a second temperature measurement). In some embodiments, in response to a decision that the difference exceeds a threshold difference, temperature controller 190 and / or system controller 148 may initiate a recalibration procedure for substrate support assembly 126. The recalibration procedure may be the same as or similar to the calibration procedure previously described.

[0060] In response to the temperature of the corresponding portion of the temperature determination area and / or substrate 134 (referred to herein as substrate temperature) determined by the temperature determination element 312, the power determination element 314 may determine whether to increase or decrease the amount of power supplied to one or more heating elements 154, 140 embedded in that area. As previously described, the system controller 148 may control the process performed in the processing chamber according to a process recipe. The process recipe may include one or more commands to maintain or modify the substrate temperature to a target temperature. Depending on the process recipe, the power determination element 314 may determine whether the substrate temperature corresponds to the target temperature. In some embodiments, the power determination element 314 may determine that the substrate temperature corresponds to the target temperature in response to a determination that the difference between the substrate temperature and the target temperature meets (i.e., reaches or falls below) a threshold temperature difference. In similar embodiments, the temperature determination element 312 may determine that the substrate temperature does not correspond to the target temperature of the process recipe in response to a determination that the difference between the substrate temperature and the target temperature does not meet (i.e., exceeds) a threshold temperature difference. In response to the determination that the substrate temperature does not correspond to the target temperature of the process recipe, the power determining element 314 can cause the power control module 194 to increase or decrease the amount of power supplied to one or more heating elements 154, 140 to heat the substrate temperature to the target temperature.

[0061] As previously described, the temperature of one or more portions of the substrate 134 can be affected by various conditions associated with the process recipe. When one or more conditions associated with the process recipe are modified, the temperature controller 190 can increase or decrease the amount of power delivered to the heating elements 154, 140 to maintain a target temperature for the heating elements 154, 140. In some embodiments, the power control module 194 can use a temperature model 316 to determine whether to increase or decrease the amount of power delivered to the heating elements 154, 140. The temperature model 316 can be a model used to identify a target temperature of a region of the heater assembly 170 in response to modifications of one or more various process conditions associated with the process recipe. For example, the temperature model 316 can receive the current temperature of a region of the heater assembly 170 and at least one of the current process setting or future process setting of the process recipe as input. The temperature model 316 can provide the target temperature of a region of the heater assembly 170 as output. In some embodiments, as provided by temperature model 316, in response to maintaining one or more heating elements 154, 140 of the zone at or heating to the target temperature of the zone, one or more portions of the substrate 134 may be heated at the target temperature according to the process formulation.

[0062] In an illustrative example, the ESC may include radio frequency (RF) electrodes for facilitating plasma generation during the process in the processing chamber. Heating elements 154, 140 embedded within the heater assembly 170 may provide a path to ground for the RF electrodes. In some cases, the power setting of the RF electrodes may cause a temperature change in the area including the embedded heating elements 154, 140, thus changing the temperature of a portion of the substrate 134. The system controller 148 may provide the temperature controller 190 with an indication of the current operating conditions and / or an indication that the operating conditions will change from a first setting to a second setting. For example, the system controller 148 may provide the temperature controller with an indication of the current power setting of the RF electrodes and / or an indication that the power setting of the RF electrodes will change from a first setting to a second setting. The temperature determining element 312 may measure the current temperature of the heating elements 154, 140 and provide the current temperature of the area of ​​the heater assembly 170 and the change in the power setting of the RF electrodes as input to the temperature model 316. Temperature model 316 can output a target temperature for a region of heater assembly 170 to be achieved in response to a change in the power setting of the RF electrodes from a first setting to a second setting. Based on the target temperature, power determining element 314 can determine the amount of power to be increased or decreased to the heating elements 154, 140 to achieve the target temperature within the region of heater assembly 170. In some embodiments, before or in connection with the execution of a software command to modify the power setting of the RF electrodes, power control module 194 can cause the amount of power supplied to the heating elements 154, 140 to increase or decrease.

[0063] Figures 4-7 are flowcharts of various embodiments of methods 400-700 for controlling the temperature of a region of a substrate support assembly. The methods are executed by processing logic, which may include hardware (circuit systems, dedicated logic, etc.), software (e.g., running on a general-purpose computer system or a special-purpose machine), firmware, or some combination thereof. Some methods 400-700 may be executed by a computing device (e.g., the system controller 148 or temperature controller 190 of Figure 1).

[0064] For ease of explanation, the method is depicted and described as a series of actions. However, the actions according to this disclosure may occur in various sequences and / or in parallel, and may occur together with other actions not presented and described herein. Furthermore, not all shown actions are performed in order to implement the method according to the disclosed object. In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that the method may alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states via state diagrams or events.

[0065] FIG4 is a flowchart of a method 400 for controlling the temperature of a region of a substrate support assembly according to the present disclosure. In some embodiments, one or more steps of method 400 are performed by a temperature controller 190. At block 410, the temperature controller supplies a first direct current (DC) power to a heating element embedded in a region of the substrate support assembly. At block 420, the temperature controller measures the voltage across the heating element and the current through the heating element.

[0066] At block 430, the temperature controller determines the temperature of the area of ​​the substrate support assembly based on the voltage across the heating element and the current through the heating element. For example, the temperature controller can calculate the resistance of the heating element (which is the load of the circuit). The temperature controller can then compare the resistance with a temperature-resistance function, table, or curve associated with the heating element.

[0067] At block 440, the temperature controller determines the target temperature of the zone. The temperature controller additionally compares the determined temperature with the target temperature to determine if there is any difference or disparity between them. If a difference exists, it may mean that the current power delivered to the heating element is insufficient to achieve the target temperature.

[0068] At block 450, the temperature controller can determine a second DC power to be delivered to the heating element to achieve a target temperature. The second DC power can be determined at least in part based on the determined temperature difference between the current temperature and the target temperature. For example, the second DC power can be determined based on the current power delivered to the heating element and the temperature difference between the current temperature and the target temperature. For example, the temperature controller can access a model that correlates the input values ​​of the current temperature, target temperature, and current power with the output power. The temperature controller can input the current temperature, target temperature, and current power into the model, and the model can output a new DC power to be delivered to the heating element. The model can be a feedforward model, which can also consider the current plasma power, target plasma power, current pressure, target pressure, and / or other current and / or target process parameters (i.e., their reception as input). The target process parameters can be the same as the current process parameters or can be different (e.g., different based on adjustments to the process parameters from the process recipe).

[0069] At block 460, the temperature controller supplies a second DC power to the heating element so that the temperature of the zone is modified to the target temperature.

[0070] Figure 5 is a flowchart of a method 500 for determining the temperature of a region of a substrate support assembly according to the present disclosure. In some embodiments, one or more steps of method 500 are performed by a temperature controller 190 or a system controller 148. At block 510, processing logic measures the voltage and current of a heating element. At block 512, processing logic uses the measured current and voltage to calculate the resistance of the heating element. At block 514, processing logic inputs the resistance into a function or lookup table that correlates the resistance of the heating element with a temperature valve. At block 520, processing logic determines the temperature of the region corresponding to the resistance. In some embodiments, the temperature is the temperature at the region of the substrate rather than the temperature directly at the heating element. In other embodiments, the temperature is the temperature at the heating element. In such embodiments, processing logic may input the temperature into another lookup table or function that correlates the temperature of the heating element with the temperature of a specific region of the substrate to determine the temperature at that region of the substrate.

[0071] FIG6 is a flowchart of a method 600 for determining the DC power delivered to a heating element of a substrate support assembly according to the present disclosure. In some embodiments, one or more steps of method 600 may be performed by a temperature controller 190 or a system controller 148. At block 610, processing logic determines the temperature of a region of the substrate support assembly. At block 620, processing logic receives an instruction to modify the operating conditions of a process performed in the process chamber from a first process setting to a second process setting. For example, the target temperature may be increased from 200 degrees Celsius to 250 degrees Celsius, plasma power may be increased, previously stagnant process gases may be started to flow, etc.

[0072] At block 630, the processing logic inputs the determined temperature of the region and at least a second process setting into a model that correlates the process setting and the current temperature with a target temperature. In an embodiment, the processing logic inputs one or more current process settings, one or more future target process settings, the current power delivered to the heating element, the current temperature associated with the heating element (e.g., the temperature at the region of the substrate or the temperature of the heating element), and / or the target temperature into the model. At block 640, the processing logic receives the output of the model, which includes the second DC power delivered to the heating element in the region. At block 640, the processing logic may supply the second DC power to the heating element to modify the temperature of the region to the target temperature.

[0073] Figure 7 is a flowchart of a method 700 for determining the relationship between the resistance of a heating element and the temperature of the area including the heating element, according to the present disclosure. In some embodiments, one or more steps of method 700 are performed by a temperature controller 190 or a system controller 148.

[0074] At block 710, the processing logic determines the resistance of the heating element based on the measured voltage and current of the power transmitted to the heating element. At block 720, based on the determined resistance of the heating element, the processing logic determines the temperature of the area including the substrate support assembly of the heating element. The temperature of the area can be determined based on a known relationship between the resistance of the heating element and a previously measured temperature of the area. The known relationship associates the previously determined resistance value of the heating element with the measured temperature value of the area.

[0075] At block 730, the processing logic measures the temperature of the region. A temperature sensor embedded within the substrate support assembly can be used to measure the temperature of the region. At block 740, the processing logic compares the determined temperature of the region with the measured temperature of the region.

[0076] At block 750, the processing logic determines that the difference between the determined temperature of the region and the measured temperature of the region exceeds a threshold difference. In some embodiments, in response to the determination difference exceeding the threshold difference, the processing logic may update the correlation between the determined resistance of the heating element and the temperature of the region to reflect the measured temperature of the region. In other or similar embodiments, in response to the determination difference exceeding the threshold difference, the processing logic may recalibrate the relationship between the resistance of the heating element and the temperature of the region including the heating element. In such embodiments, the processing logic may use a calibration object (e.g., a calibration wafer) processing chamber to initiate the execution of a calibration process.

[0077] The operation of method 700 can be performed multiple times within an extended time period. During each execution, the processing logic can record the difference between the measured temperature of the zone and the determined temperature of the zone. Within the extended time period, the processing logic can identify an offset (e.g., drift) in the difference between the determined temperature and the measured temperature. For example, the processing logic can determine that the difference between the measured temperature of the zone and the determined temperature of the zone increases within the extended time period. Based on the identified offset, the processing logic can initiate the execution of a calibration process using a calibration object at the processing chamber. In other or similar embodiments, based on the identified offset, the processing logic can initiate the replacement of one or more heating elements, temperature controllers, and / or substrate support assemblies within the processing system.

[0078] Figure 8 illustrates a schematic representation of a machine in the example form of a computing device 800, wherein a set of instructions can be executed within the computer system to cause the machine to perform any or more of the methodologies discussed herein. In alternative embodiments, the machine may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines in a local area network (LAN), intranet, extranet, or internet. The machine may operate as a server or client machine in a client-server network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be a personal computer (PC), tablet computer, set-top box (STB), personal digital assistant (PDA), cell phone, web browser, server, network router, switch, or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequentially or otherwise) specifying the actions to be taken by the machine. Furthermore, although only a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" should be understood to include any series of machines (e.g., computers) that individually or collectively execute a set of instructions (or multiple sets of instructions) to perform any or more of the methods described herein. In an embodiment, computing device 800 may correspond to temperature controller 190 or system controller 148 of FIG1.

[0079] Example computing device 800 includes processing device 802, main memory 804 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), etc.), static memory 806 (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM), etc.), and auxiliary memory (e.g., data storage device 828) that communicate with each other via bus 808.

[0080] Processing device 802 may represent one or more general-purpose processors such as microprocessors, central processing units, etc. More specifically, processing device 802 may be a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) microprocessor, a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) microprocessor, a Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) microprocessor, a processor implementing other instruction sets, or a processor implementing a combination of instruction sets. Processing device 802 may also be one or more special-purpose processing devices such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), network processors, etc. Processing device 802 may also be or include system-on-a-chip (SoC), programmable logic controllers (PLCs), or other types of processing devices. Processing device 802 is configured to execute processing logic (instructions 826 for mapping recipe 850) to perform the operations and steps discussed herein.

[0081] The computing device 800 may further include a network interface device 822 for communicating with the network 864. The computing device 800 may also include a video display unit 810 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), a digit input device 812 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 814 (e.g., a mouse), and a signal generating device 820 (e.g., a speaker).

[0082] The data storage device 828 may include a machine-readable storage medium (or more specifically, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) 824, on which one or more instruction sets 826 are stored to implement any or more of the methods or functions described herein. The non-transitory storage medium refers to a storage medium other than a carrier wave. The instructions 826 may also be wholly or at least partially located in main memory 804 and / or processing device 802 during execution by computer device 800, which also constitute computer-readable storage media.

[0083] The computer-readable storage medium 824 can also be used to store the mapping recipe 850. The computer-readable storage medium 824 can also store a software library containing a method for calling the mapping recipe 850. Although the computer-readable storage medium 824 is shown as a single medium in the example embodiment, the term "computer-readable storage medium" should also be considered to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database and / or associated cache and server) that store one or more instruction sets. The term "computer-readable storage medium" should also be considered to include any medium capable of storing or encoding instruction sets for use by a machine to execute and cause the machine to perform any or more of the methodologies of the present invention. Therefore, the term "computer-readable storage medium" should be considered to include (but is not limited to) solid-state memory and optical and magnetic media.

[0084] The foregoing description sets forth numerous specific details (e.g., examples of particular systems, components, methods, etc.) to provide a good understanding of several embodiments of this disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will understand that at least some embodiments of this disclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known components or methods are not described in detail or are presented in a simple block diagram format to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the disclosure. Therefore, the specific details set forth are merely exemplary. Specific implementations may vary with respect to these exemplary details and are still considered to be within the scope of this disclosure.

[0085] Throughout this specification, the reference to "an embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with that embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Therefore, the appearance of the phrase "in an embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the term "or" is intended to mean an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or". When the terms "about" or "approximately" are used herein, this term is intended to mean that the presented nominal values ​​are exactly within ±10%.

[0086] Although the operations of the methods herein are shown and described in a specific order, the order of operations of each method may be changed so that certain operations can be performed in reverse order, allowing certain operations to be performed at least partially in parallel with other operations. In another embodiment, instructions or sub-operations of dissimilar operations may be performed intermittently and / or alternately.

[0087] It should be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. After reading and understanding the above description, those skilled in the art will understand many other embodiments. Therefore, the scope of this disclosure will be determined with reference to the appended claims and the full scope of the equivalents conferred by such claims. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0089] This disclosure is illustrated in the accompanying drawings by way of example rather than limitation, in which similar reference numerals indicate similar components. It should be noted that different designations for "a" or "an" embodiment in this disclosure do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, and such designations mean at least one.

[0090] FIG1 is a cross-sectional schematic side view of a processing chamber having a substrate support assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0091] Figure 2 is a partial cross-sectional schematic side view of a portion of the substrate support assembly described in detail in accordance with the present disclosure.

[0092] Figure 3 is a partial cross-sectional schematic side view of a substrate support assembly connected to a temperature controller in accordance with the present disclosure.

[0093] Figure 4 is a flowchart of a method for controlling the temperature of a region of a substrate support assembly according to the present disclosure.

[0094] Figure 5 is a flowchart of a method for determining the temperature of a region of a substrate support assembly based on the present disclosure.

[0095] Figure 6 is a flowchart of a method for determining the DC power delivered to the heating element of a substrate support assembly in accordance with the present disclosure.

[0096] Figure 7 is a flowchart of a method for determining the relationship between the resistance of a heating element and the temperature of the area including the heating element, based on the present disclosure.

[0097] Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system according to certain embodiments. [Biomaterial Storage]

[0098] Domestic Storage Information (Please note in order of storage institution, date, and number) None

[0099] Overseas Deposit Information (Please note in the order of deposit country, institution, date, and number) None

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing an electronic device, comprising the steps of: supplying a first direct current (DC) power to a heating member embedded in a region of a substrate support assembly, the substrate support assembly being included in a processing chamber; measuring a voltage across the heating member and a current through the heating member while the first DC power is supplied to the heating member; determining a temperature of the region of the substrate support assembly based on the voltage measured across the heating member and the current measured through the heating member while the first DC power is supplied to the heating member; determining a temperature difference between the determined temperature of the region and the target temperature of the region; determining, at least in part, a second DC power to be delivered to the heating member to achieve the target temperature based on the temperature difference; and supplying the second DC power to the heating member to modify the temperature of the region to the target temperature.

2. The method of claim 1 further includes the step of: receiving an instruction to modify an operating condition of a process performed in the processing chamber from a first process setting to a second process setting, wherein the second DC power is further determined at least in part based on the second process setting.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the heating element provides a path to ground for a radio frequency (RF) electrode, wherein a power setting of the RF electrode causes a temperature change in the region, and wherein the operating conditions include an RF power delivered to the RF electrode.

4. The method of claim 1 further includes the step of: using an AC to DC rectifier to convert an alternating current (AC) power into the DC power.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the temperature of the zone comprises the steps of: calculating a temperature of the heating element using the voltage across the heating element and the current through the heating element; and determining a temperature of the zone corresponding to the temperature of the heating element.

6. The method of claim 1 further includes the following steps: determining the temperature of the zone based on the following steps: calculating a resistance of the heating element using the voltage across the heating element and the current through the heating element; and inputting the resistance into at least one of a function or a lookup table relating the resistance of the heating element to a temperature value.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: determining at least one of one or more current process settings or one or more future process settings of a process recipe; and inputting the determined temperature of the region and at least one of the one or more current process settings or one or more future process settings into a model relating the process settings and the current temperature to a power setting, wherein the model outputs a power to be delivered to the heating element to achieve the target temperature.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: using a temperature sensor to measure a temperature of the area; comparing the determined temperature of the area with the measured temperature of the area; determining a difference between the measured temperature and the determined temperature based on the comparison; and determining whether the difference deviates from an expected difference.

9. An electronic device manufacturing apparatus, comprising: A direct current (DC) power supply is operatively coupled to a heating element embedded in a region of a substrate support assembly, the substrate support assembly being included in a processing chamber; and a controller operatively coupled to the heating element and the DC power supply, wherein the controller is configured to: cause the DC power supply to supply a first DC power to the heating element; when the first DC power is supplied to the heating element, measure a voltage across the heating element and a current through the heating element; determine a temperature of a region of the substrate support assembly based on the voltage across the heating element and the current through the heating element when the first DC power is supplied to the heating element; and determine a temperature difference between the determined temperature of the region and a target temperature of the region. The second DC power to be delivered to the heating element to achieve the target temperature is determined at least in part based on the temperature difference; and the DC power supply supplies the second DC power to the heating element to modify the temperature of the area to the target temperature.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the controller is further configured to: receive an instruction to modify an operating condition of a process performed in the processing chamber from a first process setting to a second process setting, wherein the second DC power is further determined at least in part based on the second process setting.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the heating element provides a path to ground for a radio frequency (RF) electrode, wherein a power setting of the RF electrode causes a temperature change in the region, and wherein the operating conditions include an RF power delivered to the electrode.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein, in order to determine the temperature of the zone, the controller is configured to: calculate a temperature of the heating element using the voltage across the heating element and the current through the heating element; and determine a temperature of the zone corresponding to the temperature of the heating element.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein, in order to further determine the temperature of the zone, the controller is configured to: calculate a resistance of the heating element using the voltage across the heating element and the current through the heating element; and input the resistance into at least one of a function or a lookup table relating the resistance of the heating element to a temperature value.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the controller is further configured to: determine at least one of one or more current process settings or one or more future process settings of a process recipe; and input the determined temperature of the region and at least one of the one or more current process settings or one or more future process settings into a model relating the process settings and the current temperature to a power setting, wherein the model outputs a power to be delivered to the heating element to achieve the target temperature.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the DC power supply includes an alternating current (AC) power supply connected to a rectifier, wherein the rectifier is configured to receive AC power from the AC power supply and output the first DC power and the second DC power to the heating element.

16. An electronic device manufacturing system, comprising: A processing chamber includes a substrate support assembly, the substrate support assembly including one or more heating elements each embedded in a region of the substrate support assembly; A direct current (DC) power supply is configured to supply DC power to each heating element; and a temperature controller is operatively coupled to each heating element, the DC power supply, and a system controller, wherein the temperature controller is configured to: cause the DC power supply to supply a first DC power to one of the one or more heating elements, the heating element being embedded in a corresponding region of the substrate support assembly; measure a voltage across the heating element and a current through the heating element when the first DC power is supplied to the heating element; determine a temperature of the region of the substrate support assembly based on the voltage across the heating element and the current through the heating element measured when the first DC power is supplied to the heating element; determine a temperature difference between the determined temperature of the heating element and a temperature of the corresponding region of the substrate support assembly; and determine a target temperature of the corresponding region based on the determined temperature of the corresponding region. The second DC power to be delivered to the heating element to achieve the target temperature is determined at least in part based on the temperature difference; and the DC power supply supplies the second DC power to the heating element so that the temperature of the corresponding area is modified to the target temperature.

17. The electronic device manufacturing system of claim 16, wherein the temperature controller is further configured to: receive an instruction to modify an operating condition of a process performed in the processing chamber from a first process setting to a second process setting, wherein the second DC power is further determined at least in part based on the second process setting.

18. The electronic device manufacturing system of claim 17, wherein the heating element provides a path to ground for a radio frequency (RF) electrode, wherein a power setting of the RF electrode causes a temperature change in the region, and wherein the operating conditions include an RF power delivered to the electrode.

19. The electronic device manufacturing system of claim 16, wherein the DC power supply includes an AC to DC rectifier, and wherein the temperature controller is further configured to: in response to the DC power supply receiving an AC power from an AC power supply, such that the AC to DC rectifier is used to convert the AC power into the DC power.

20. The electronic device manufacturing system of claim 16, wherein, in order to determine the temperature of the corresponding zone, the controller is configured to: calculate a temperature of the heating element using the voltage across the heating element and the current through the heating element; and determine a temperature of the zone corresponding to the temperature of the heating element.

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